Despite not having performed live in almost six full years, Metro music fans have kept heavy metal band Earth A.D. on their minds. Though various reasons, including full-time jobs and families, could be attributed to Earth A.D.’s absence from the stages of Metro Moncton over the past half-decade, the band is making their highly anticipated return with a show at the Manhattan Bar and Grill Friday night.
The group, comprised of bassist-vocalist Shane Mazerolle, guitarist Todd Mazerolle and drummer Shannon Osburne, was formed in 1990 and have five releases to their credit, the most recent being 2005’s On The Surface. As one of the longest-running bands in the Metro Moncton area, the influence of Earth A.D. on both metal and non-metal bands remains unquestionably obvious, even more than two decades later.
Chris Lewis, vocalist for Moncton band Iron Giant, was at some of Earth A.D.’s earliest shows and says that the group greatly influenced him as both a fan as well as a musician.
“In my opinion, Earth A.D. were one of the bands to have helped kick start the music scene in Moncton in the ’90s,” Lewis says. “Earth A.D. showed that bands didn’t need to worry about fancy guitar solos nor did bands have to play ridiculously fast to make heavy and aggressive music. It was definitely those factors that attracted me to them and why they remain my favourite local band.”
Of course, if Lewis and other Earth A.D. fans have only one bone to pick with the group, it is the lack of shows they have been playing as of late, no matter how understandable the reasons may be.
Asked about their lengthy absence from performing live, Shane Mazerolle admits that the group basically ground to a halt when he and his family were transferred to Fredericton for his job not long after they last performed in 2006.
“After that show, we were not playing together at all,” he says. “I was living in Fredericton for my job and admittedly thought that the band was over at that time.”
Although the band was no longer performing, the trio remained in touch with one another. After Shane and his family returned to Moncton in 2009, he and his brother Todd had talked about the possibility of getting together for the purpose of writing some new music. Mazerolle admits that they were having difficulty finding the time to get together however after they were approached to perform tonight’s show, it inevitably set the wheels in motion towards making things finally happen.
Once the final notes ring out at Friday night’s show, we are sure that many will be wondering what the future holds for these Moncton favourites. And while Mazerolle is not sure of the answer to that question himself, he seems relatively confident that it will not be another six years before the band plays together again.
“The three of us have talked about what exactly is going to happen after the show and where the band goes from here,” he says. “We are all on the same page with respect to what we want to do: we are going to start writing and recording. We have a few songs in the works right now but who knows what will come of it. We are not feeling anything in the way of pressure whatsoever so while we can’t say when exactly to expect a new release, I can say that I do hope we will get something out at some point. One of the biggest regrets I have had with regards to the band is having been out of the music scene for so long. I truly believe that the band still has a lot to offer.”
Article published in May 25, 2012 edition of the Times & Transcript